Method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure

ABSTRACT

A method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure having a ventilated isolating layer below a concrete layer extending throughout an enclosed space, and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring over the concrete layer. An outlet opening is provided into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of an end of the enclosed space, the tiled flooring is heated by a heating source, and ambient air drawn by a suction source through the isolating layer and out of the outlet opening.

TECHNICAL AREA

This invention relates to a method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure having a ventilated isolating layer below a concrete layer extending throughout an enclosed space, and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring above the concrete layer.

BACKGROUND

This kind of floor structure, where the enclosed space is typically a wet space such as a bathroom, is difficult to dry as the concrete layer and the tiled flooring, which commonly also has a waterproofing layer, form a cover that obstructs ventilation and evaporation of water from the floor structure. In prior art drying methods the tiled flooring including the waterproofing layer therefore needs to be removed and replaced after completion of the drying process.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to obtain a method and an arrangement that will effectively dry a water damaged floor structure of the above identified kind without the need of removing and replacing the tiled flooring and the waterproofing layer.

In an aspect of the invention, the method is comprised by providing an outlet opening into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of an end of the enclosed space, heating the tiled flooring, and drawing ambient air through the isolating layer and out of the outlet opening.

In this way, the moisture in the floor structure is gradually seized by ambient air flowing along the isolating layer and out of the floor structure. Because the floor structure is also heated from above, the flowing ambient air will also be heated by the floor structure and thereby more effectively attract moisture from the surrounding floor structure. Thereby the drying process is highly accelerated as compared to known methods only drying the air in the enclosed space.

While the flooring may be heated by a heater transferring heat to the flooring, in one embodiment the tiled flooring being heated is covered by a heat insulated flexible layer. Thereby the heat is more effectively transferred to the floor structure. In this case the heating may be accomplished by heating elements that may be incorporated in the heat insulated flexible layer like in a heating blanket. A heating blanket may also be located under the heat insulated flexible layer.

The heating may also be provided by forcing hot air between the heat insulated flexible layer and the tiled flooring.

More than one outlet opening may be provided when necessary, which may be the typical case. The openings may then be arranged in a line outside of and parallel to a wall confining the enclosed space.

While the ambient air generally may enter into the isolating layer from the floor structure by the floor structure being permeable to air flow, in an embodiment of the invention, wherein the concrete layer extends beyond the enclosed space, the method is comprised by providing also an inlet opening through the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of a second end of the enclosed space.

This embodiment may be practiced in a case where the concrete layer forms a more or less air-impermeable cover over the isolating layer. The inlet opening will accordingly supply the ambient air flowing along the isolating layer.

Also in this case more than one outlet opening and inlet opening may be provided when necessary, which may be the typical case.

In another embodiment of the invention the ambient air is drawn through the isolating layer via a hollow perforated pipe driven into the isolating layer.

This may be the case when the isolating layer is relatively dense and counteracting to airflow. The perforated hollow pipe may then facilitate the airflow.

More than one perforated pipe may be forced into the isolating layer, which may be the typical case.

The invention also relates to an arrangement having the necessary features for performing the method according to the invention.

In the arrangement a suction blower and a dehumidifier can be serially interconnected. Thereby heat generated in the suction blower, primarily by its motor, can be transferred to the air dried by the dehumidifier.

The suction blower and the dehumidifier can also be arranged in a common sound and heat insulated casing. Thereby heat generated by the blower may be more effectively transferred to the air dried by the dehumidifier. This is advantageous and of high value for this type of drying operation, where the dry air supplied by the dehumidifier needs to be as hot as possible for the best drying effect. The resulting combined one-piece suction blower and dehumidifier will also be easier to handle, install and operate.

Other features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed descrip-tion and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic lateral cutaway view, partly in section, of a floor structure being dried according to a method of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing an alternative method of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing another alternative method of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing still another alternative method of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cutaway top plan view of a floor structure being dried according to still another alternative method of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic lateral cutaway view, partly in section, of a floor structure being dried according to yet another alternative method of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a lateral view of a perforated pipe for use in the method according to the invention shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a lateral view of an extension pipe according to the invention shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a view, partly in section, of a drying apparatus that may be used in the invention;

FIG. 10 is an oblique cutaway view of a drying apparatus that may be used in the invention;

In the drawing, components having mutually similar functions may be denoted by same reference numerals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The floor structures 10 shown in FIGS. 1-6 are generally floor structures having a water damage in an enclosed space 200, for example a bathroom, where typically floor structures 10 and walls 202 may be expected to be exposed to water.

Each floor structure 10 is comprised of a tiled flooring 22 in the enclosed space 200. The tiled flooring 22 covers a concrete layer 12 and a ventilated isolating/insulating porous layer 18 below the concrete layer 12. “Ventilated” in this context does not necessarily mean that specific ventilating means are present, but that air drawn from the isolating porous layer 18 may also be replaced by air entering thereinto from adjoining permeable structures. Between the tiled flooring 22 and the concrete layer 12 there is usually also a waterproofing layer (not shown). In each embodiment there is also a bottom layer 20 that may be a ground layer or a foundation slab resting on a ground layer 20′ (FIG. 6), or possibly even a floor-supporting concrete layer.

Outside a wall 202 confining the enclosed space, one or more outlet openings 16 are provided from above, for example by drilling, in the floor structure 10 and at least down to the isolating layer 18.

Each outlet opening 16 is sealingly connected, for example by a suitable flange or socket 74, as in FIGS. 1-4, to an outlet tubing 66 that in turn is connected to suction blower 60. The suction blower 60 can be a side channel blower. Such blower can be selected to obtain the relatively high suction force needed to draw ambient air through the isolating layer 18.

The floor structure 10 below and around the enclosed space 200 may be heated in dif-ferent ways.

In the example of FIG. 1, the floor structure 10 is heated by a heating source 50 transferring heat to the tiled flooring 22 of the floor structure 10. The heating source 50 may in this case be any suitable heater, such as a fan heater or an infrared heater.

In the example of FIG. 2, the heating source 50 comprises a flexible heat insulating layer 24 covering the tiled flooring 22 and possibly also bottom parts of the walls 202 (not shown). The flexible layer 24, in this case, comprises heating elements 51 such as heating cables incorporated in the flexible layer, like a heating blanket, or covered by a heat insulated portion of the flexible layer 24.

In the example of FIG. 3, a heat insulating flexible layer 24 that is also porous, and may now not comprise heating elements, is placed over the tiled flooring 22 in the enclosed space 200. The flexible layer 24 covers the tiled flooring 22, and may also here have a larger area than the tiled flooring 22 to extend slightly up along the walls 202 (not shown).

An outlet hot air tubing 56 connected to the hot air source comprising a dehumidifier 50 extends to open in a space 23 defined between the insulating porous flexible layer 24 and the tiled flooring 22. The hot air source may here as well comprise another hot air source, such as a hot air blower (not shown). Hot air tubing 56 enters the space 23 through an opening 25 formed through the flexible layer 24 as indicated in FIG. 3. Hot air tubing 56 may alternatively be inserted under an edge of the flexible layer 24 as indicated in FIG. 5.

The water damaged floor structure is then dried as in the following drying process:

Dry hot air produced by heating source 50 heats the floor structure 10 according to the different embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-6. Dry hot air produced by the heating source 50 in the FIG. 4-6 embodiments is forced by the dehumidifier 50 into to the space 23. The dry hot air heats the floor structure 10, while in most embodiments the heat insulating flexible layer 24 inhibits heat from escaping into the enclosed space 200.

Concurrently, ambient air is drawn by the suction blower 60 to flow along the isolating layer 18 below the enclosed space and out of the floor structure 10.

The flowing ambient air is heated by the heated floor structure 10, and thereby increases its capacity of continuously absorbing moisture from the floor structure 10, to become moist air.

The drying process continues accordingly until the floor structure 10 is considered to be appropriately dried, for example by use of a moisture meter.

FIG. 4 shows a case when the floor structure 10 is more or less impermeable to air flow so that sufficient amounts of ambient air cannot reach the isolating layer 18. In that case the concrete layer 12 may extend beyond the enclosed space 200. Then one or more inlet openings 14 for ambient air can be formed through the floor structure 10 down to the isolating layer 18 at a second, opposite end of the enclosed space 200 and outside a confining wall 202 thereof. The drying process will then be performed substantially as that described above. In case there is no opposite end available, the second end may be another distant end of the enclosed space 200 (not shown).

FIG. 5 illustrates a possibility to use a suction blower and a dehumidifier in serial connec-tion and usable in all embodiments described herein using a flexible layer 24. FIG. 5 also shows a typical arrangement of hot air tubing and respective inlet and outlet openings 14, 16 outside opposite ends of the enclosed space 200.

The embodiment shown in in FIG. 6 includes a number of perforated hollow flexible pipes 30, 32 to be inserted in the isolating layer 18 and to facilitate the drawing of ambient air through the isolating layer 18 in case the isolating layer is more or less impervious/impermeable to airflow.

As evident from FIG. 6, a forward pipe 30 of the perforated pipes 30, 32 has a pointed tip 38 and one or more external helical threads 36. The pipe 30 is thereby capable of advancing into the porous isolating layer 18 by being rotated. The external helical threads 36 are suitably shaped for incising into or pushing away the porous isolating material when advancing on rotation of the pipe 30. The pipes 30, 32 may also be resilient so as to return to their original straight shape when released from bending forces.

The pipes 32, i.e. the pipes to be serially connected to a forward pipe 30, may also have one or more external threads 36 and are serially connectable to each other and to a rearward end of the forward pipe 30 by mutually engageable screw threads 40 (FIGS. 7 and 8).

To facilitate rotation of the pipes 30, 32 being advanced into the isolating layer 18, a socket 42 (FIG. 6) for a rotating tool may be used. Socket 42 has a forward screw thread 40 that can be engaged with a mating thread 40 of a rearward end of the pipe(s) that is (are) advanced into the isolating layer. Socket 42 also has a rearward end portion 44 for engagement with a tip of the rotating tool such as a power screw driver (not shown).

To keep the integrity of the floor structure 10 in the space 200, in the FIG. 6 embodi-ment, the pipes 30, 32 are advanced into a lateral face 18 a of the isolating layer 18 from an outlet opening 16 outside of the space 200. To that end, the opening 16 is formed as a cavity in the floor structure outside of the wall 202 of space 200. The cavity is dimensioned for allowing drilling a bore 16 a in the partition wall before inserting, rotating and advancing the flexible/bendable pipes 30, 32 into the isolating layer 18. The partition wall may occasionally also rest on the concrete layer 12 (not shown). In that case the opening 16 may be provided as in the previously described embodiments.

The pipes 30, 32, accordingly installed in the isolating layer, are connected to the suction blower via outlet tubing 66 as in the previously described embodiments.

As diagrammatically indicated in phantom on FIG. 6, and analogously to the previously described embodiments, depending on the extent of the water damage, a sufficient array 26 of serially connected pipes 30, 32 distributed in the isolating layer 18 may be connected to outlet tubing 66 via a manifold 77.

Like in the previously described embodiments, outlet tubing 66 is in turn connected to the suction blower 60, in this case in a combined drying apparatus 100. Apparatus 100 may be placed in the space 200 as shown, where outlet tubing 66 is passed through the doorway 204 in partition wall 202. Apparatus 100 may likewise be placed outside the space 200 (not shown). In the apparatus 100, suction blower 60 is serially connected (not shown) to the dehumidifier 50. Dehumidifier 50 has outlet hot air tubing 56 extending through the porous flexible layer 23. Dehumidifier 50 may also have a wet air outlet and an ambient air inlet (not shown in FIG .6) as known in the art. While the blower 60 and dehumidifier 50 are diagrammatically shown con-tained in a common case, they may also be serially connected separate machines or non-connected machines as described in connection with the relevant other embodiments shown in the drawing. In the latter case the efficiency of the drying process may be decreased as the dry air in space 23 would possibly be less heated.

The drying apparatus 100 according to the invention and shown in FIG. 9, which apparatus 100 may optionally be used in all relevant embodiments described above, is further provided with a sound and heat insulation inside the casing 102. The sound and heat insulation comprises a laminate having a thicker sound and heat insulating layer 104 and a thinner sound and heat reflecting layer or film 106. The laminate may be adhesively bonded to the interior face of the casing 102.

Inside the sound and heat insulation 104, 106 in the housing 102, the dehumidifier 50 is mounted in parallel with and above the suction blower 60. Specifically, the dehumidifier 50 is suitably installed against one side of the housing 102, and the suction blower 60 is mounted in near heat-conducting contact directly against a bottom face of the dehumidifier 50.

The suction blower 60 is a side channel blower comprising an electric motor 122 and a centrifugal blower housing 124. The suction blower 60 has a suction channel 126, arranged to be connected to the above-mentioned outlet tubing 66, and an outlet channel 128 connected to an inlet 152 of the dehumidifier 50.

The dehumidifier 50 is a sorption dehumidifier also having an inlet 170 for ambient air 172. At the inlet 170 there is a fan, such as a duct fan 154, to further increase the mixed flow of the ambient air 172 and the process air flow 68 heated by the suction blower into the dehumidifier 50. Downstream of the fan 154, the resulting mixed process air is led into a sorption block 156 which may be of the rotary type. The sorption block 156 has an absorbent for accumulating moisture in the process air and is capable of dividing the output flow into a dry air flow 58, exiting the apparatus 100 through a dry air outlet channel 52, and a wet air flow 78 which is discharged from the dryer 100 through an outlet channel 162 from which it can be discharged through a wet air tubing 76. The dehumidifier 50 also has a regeneration chamber 158 where there is a self-regulating PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) element 160 to further heat up the resulting dry air when needed. Without such a PTC element, the dehumidification would be degraded by the overheating protection being released and the operation thereby deteriorating.

In FIG. 9, a slightly modified drying apparatus 100 is further shown mounted on a trolley 108 to be easily moved over shorter distances.

The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. Modifications will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method of drying a water damaged floor structure having a ventilated isolating layer below a concrete layer extending throughout an enclosed space, and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring over the concrete layer, characterized by providing an outlet opening into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of an end of the enclosed space, heating the tiled flooring, and drawing ambient air through the isolating layer and out of the outlet opening.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising covering the tiled flooring being heated by a heat insulated flexible layer.
 3. The method of claim 2, comprising providing said heating by forcing hot air between the flexible layer and the tiled flooring.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprising providing also an inlet opening for the ambient air into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of a second end of the enclosed space.
 5. The method of claim 1, comprising drawing the ambient air through the isolating layer via a hollow perforated pipe driven into the isolating layer.
 6. The method of claim 5, comprising driving the hollow perforated pipe by rotating the hollow perforated pipe having a helical external thread.
 7. An arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure having a ventilated isolating layer below a concrete layer extending throughout an enclosed space, and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring over the concrete layer, characterized by an outlet opening into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside an end of the enclosed space, a heating source for heating the tiled flooring, and a suction source for drawing ambient air through the isolating layer and out of the outlet opening.
 8. The arrangement of claim 7, comprising a heat insulated flexible layer for covering the tiled flooring being heated.
 9. The arrangement of claim 8, wherein the heating source is in or below the flexible layer.
 10. The arrangement of claim 8, wherein the heating source comprises a hot air source capable of forcing heated air through hot air tubing into a space defined between the heat insulated flexible layer and the tiled flooring.
 11. The arrangement of claim 7, comprising an inlet opening for the ambient air into the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of a second end of the enclosed space.
 12. The arrangement of claim 7, comprising a hollow perforated pipe to be driven into the isolating layer for drawing the ambient air through the isolating layer.
 13. The arrangement of claim 12, wherein the hollow perforated pipe has a helical external thread for the pipe to be driven by rotational movement.
 14. The arrangement of claim 12, wherein the hollow perforated pipe is flexible.
 15. The arrangement of claim 10, wherein the suction source is a suction blower and the hot air source is a dehumidifier.
 16. The arrangement of claim 15, wherein the suction blower and the dehumidifier are serially interconnected.
 17. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein the suction blower and the dehumidifier are arranged in a common sound and heat insulated casing having a sound and heat insulation.
 18. (canceled) 